Friday, December 29, 2006

PlayStation 3 games for $39.99

The PlayStation 3 console price is not going be dropping any time, but the next best thing would be cheaper titles -- and that's exactly what we're going to get.

Yes, according to Punch Jump, some PS3 titles will be getting a massive price cut of $20, taking $59.99 titles down to $39.99. Retailer Target is specifically advertising EA's Need for Speed Carbon, Activision's Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Project 8 as three games that will be a much more reasonable price.

Competition-wise, Nintendo's Wii has still got the advantage when it comes to the wallet. The console retails for half the price of the PS3 and titles start at $29.99. However, many would argue that you get what you pay for.

This is a new strategy in the next generation battle, with these adjustments taking place only a month after release. Xbox 360 gamers also saw similar decreases in costs, but those cuts happened much later in the game.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Adding Technorati

12/27/06

Created link to Technorati

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Playstation 3 for Christmas

Updated PS3 News

SONY'S Playstation 3 games console is just about the most eagerly awaited games console of all time.

It goes on sale this month in America, where black market prices are already approaching Pounds 1,000. Experts say it will be this year's must-have Christmas gift, going head to head with Microsoft's Xbox 360,and Nintendo's Wii, launching on 8 December.

Controversially, in Europe Sony has delayed the Pounds 425 PS3 until March, citing a shortage of lasers needed for its next generation DVD drive. But the Evening Standard managed to get one of the first finished PS3s anywhere in the world.

THE Playstation 3 is a large, chunky console, but with its gloss-black exterior still manages to look at home in the living room.

Once plugged in (you'll need a high definition TV to get the most out of it), the first thing that hits you is the quality of the graphics. They are incredibly detailed and fast, noticeably more so than Microsoft's Xbox 360, and often tough to distinguish from video. When characters in a fighting game jump into a river, the water ripples and splashes as if real, and in rally games the car skids as if it were really on a muddy track.

The controller is incredibly light and comfortable to use, and also has a neat trick up its sleeve - motion sensors. In Lair, a dragon-fighting game, you control your flying reptile by moving the controller about in mid-air - roll it forward, and the dragon will dive, or tilt it left to turn left.

After a short while, this becomes highly intuitive, and gives games an added dimension.

The onscreen menus, almost identical to those in Sony's PSP portable games console, are extremely easy to understand. As well as games, one of the keys to the PS3 is its Blu-ray DVD drive, which offers high-definition films. The quality is stunning, superior even to Sky's high-definition DVD service, and at Pounds 425, the Playstation 3 is probably the cheapest way there is of getting a Blu-ray player.

You can play music, pictures and video from the machine, either from its built-in 60 Gb hard drive, over the internet or even from memory cards for your camera or MP3 player. Sony is also launching a free online service allowing you to download demos, chat online and browse the web from the console.

Overall, the PS3 is far better than expected. The graphics and sound are superb, and in terms of raw power the console is way ahead of its Xbox rival, which makes Sony's delay even more unfortunate. The first few games are among the most addictive we've seen.

With its Blu-ray DVD player on top of all that, this could well be the machine that both beats off Microsoft and saves Sony. However, we would recommend waiting until the official launch in March rather than paying over the odds for a US import - while the PS3 is good, it's certainly not worth Pounds 1,000.